SpaceLink, a company that is building the communications superhighway for the space economy, announced that it was selected by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), manager of the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory, for a funded demonstration of its end-to-end relay service which provides secure, continuous, high capacity communications between spacecraft and the ground. The demonstration will validate the use of a 10 Gigabit per second optical terminal, for real-time voice, video, and data exchange between ISS crew, onboard systems, experiments, and terrestrial users. 

In a highly competitive process, made available for companies and research teams to propose technology development concepts capable of being utilized in low Earth orbit (LEO), the SpaceLink concept was selected by CASIS. With this selection, SpaceLink can advance its proposal for a potential flight project to the orbiting research and technology development outpost sponsored by the ISS National Lab. The SpaceLink relay network is designed to pick up where the NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) leaves off and go beyond with unprecedented capacity that leverages the latest technology advances in optical communications.

“Our demonstration on the ISS is the first step to proving SpaceLink’s capabilities to advance space science and the emerging space economy,” said David Bettinger, SpaceLink CEO. “Funding from CASIS marks an important milestone in SpaceLink’s roadmap to providing massive bandwidth for organizations that need real-time connectivity between space and the ground.”

With the proliferation of spacecraft in LEO, the demand for fast, continuous, high-capacity connectivity on orbit continues to grow. SpaceLink is designed to help close the business case for Earth observation companies, commercial space stations, satellite servicers, launch vehicles and space tugs. It also meets requirements for the U.S. Government and close allies that want to leverage secure industry solutions to maximize capabilities.

On July 28, 2021 CASIS notified SpaceLink of its intent to award a User Agreement. A fully executed agreement with program schedule and milestone deliverables is expected to be completed in the coming months